Do you have a refractometer or hydrometeor? What is you salinity/SG?
you just dont add salt to water without checking the SG of the water. And all water should be mixed out of the tank from now on. What size tank? like the others have said don't add any of that stuff to the water. Salt has a buffer in it and should get you up to or near a pH of 8.2. Don't worry about the ph being perfect in a new tank with no fish. Read up on keeping a SW tank and keep asking questions.

I have a hydrometer, my salinity is holding at just under 1.022. I mixed everything in a bucket first.. put my sand in the tank and used a bowl to minimize sand movement..my tank is 55gal I have a sump for a 75 gal.

just got off the phone with another lfs.. and he told me to do a partial water change (about 10 gal) to get some of that stress coat out...I think I'll take about half of the tank out... and just put water conditioner in..no stress coat..

first off...dont use any chemicals in your water..
2nd..i like gravity at 1.024 (and i keep it there..all the time)
3rd...dont trust LFS..(u will get stung)
4th...dont use tap water
5th...decide how you want to cycle your tank (shrimp is fine...or....
use live rock and sand to do it(and chuck in flake once a week)..approx 1.5 pound rock per gallon ) u dont need both..
personally i threw away my hydrometer the first time i used it !
get a refractometer off ebay or something) (u will not regret it)
mix up your water and salt in buckets and get the gravity right BEFORE u put it in tank
confused yet ? i trying to make it easy for u ere and SAFE for the fish

now buckets is a different issue all together..cause you cannot use any old bucket!
use a food safe bucket.. example..use a bucket you would eat your dinner out of !
as for PH...dont even worry about that yet ) it should be there naturally..or a buffer can be added when it is fish ready !
what i am trying to get at mainly is try to keep away from puttin any chemicals in a marine setup!
if you do it right..you will have a trouble free..healthy marine environment..
2 words...RESEARCH and PATIENCE
could be 2 months before you put any fish in..so you plenty of time )
good luck and enjoy the hobby)

yeah.. I figured it would be awhile before I add fish.. if I do it this way with tapwater and conditioner, will all the chemicals be leached out eventually? I'm gonna let my tank sit with lr and sand without anything for awhile.. while I learn..I just want to get it setup first

thats a good start )
problem with tapwater is the phosphates r really high...causes bad algae problems in the long run....
while your tank is cycling ..look into gettin a RO unit...there is soo many to choose from )

any way to remove the phosphate? I plan on getting a cleanup crew as soon as my cycle is complete... and any water changes I do from here on out I will buy some RO water from walmart... and just look into prices with ro units..